The ability to use 6 CIM motors and 4 MiniCIM motors were a blessing this year, and the majority of teams took advantage of them. However, it was brought to my attention that, like 2010, the extra CIMs from 2013 may not be legal the next year. Personally, I would love for FIRST to continue the use of 6 CIM motors and 4 Mini CIMs; Teams could build 6-CIM single speed gearboxes to compete with the shifters, use the motors to power their shooters, climbers, etc.
What are your opinions on the motor allowance this year? Would you like to see this trend continue for future games? Do you think it’s probable that FIRST will continue allowing these extra motors?
I really hope they do. 6 CIM drive trains definitely make matches more interesting, and they add the ability to use CIMs on things other than the drive train, without sacrificing to much pushing ability.
I think the motor rules made the game extra interesting. That said, I’m torn. I think so many powerful motors added to the game, though they also made it easier. I really hope we get at least 2 Mini-CIMs and 4 CIMs next year, but beyond that I feel it is a bit excessive(remember we still have 8 more 500 series motors).
I talked with the people in AndyMark’s sponsor stand about them releasing more 3 motor gearboxes and was told that FIRST had not given them any signs about whether or not 6 CIMs would be staying. It does seem logical that at the least some MiniCIMs will remain, as IFI has made a significant investment into that motor, so 4 CIM 2 MiniCIM drive will most likely remain an option.
Let me just say this: 6-CIM drivetrains can break the main 120 amp breaker if they are stalled. With a 6-CIM drive, you’re essentially giving good defenders a way literally shut your robot down.
As for continuing to have insane amounts of power like we did this year? I sure hope it continues, but I certainly wouldn’t take this much raw power for granted. It obviously depends on the game, but I’d bet on 4 CIMs and 2 Mini-CIMs for next year.
Mini-CIMs and BAG motors are definitely here to stay since they’re pretty much replacements for the FPs and Globes. I think the CIM count could vary between 4-6 from year to year, though I do like having more than just 4. However, chances are that we’ll continue to only see extra CIMs in years with climbing/hanging endgames.
So can 2 CIMs, or 4 CIMs. As long as you don’t gear too high for the amount of torque you have available (which will increase with the number of CIMs), your drivetrain should stay traction-limited and never stall.
I’m not sure about this, but there was a discussion and quite a few teams came out in support of this. I think the argument was along the lines of, “they end up doing more work than stalling so it’s fine.” I don’t quite remember.
Either way, I’ve heard of quite a bit of success from this. At the very least, it’s worth exploring.
I know of a couple of very, very good teams that did FP+2 CIMs in the drive for one year and then swore never to do it again. Something about having to replace the FPs–I know one of those teams had to do it on Thursday at a regional and it was a long job, or something like that.
